How to Change the Sound Output on a Mac

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Do you need to change the speaker or headphones through which your Mac plays sounds? Changing the sound output device on your Mac is super easy—you'll just need to make a quick change in your System Preferences. Note: You'll need to have another output device connected in order to change to any option other than the default speakers.

1

Open your Mac's System Preferences.

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  1. The Apple menu is at the top-right corner of the screen.
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2

Click the "Sound" icon.

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  1. This opens your sound settings.
3

Click "Output."

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  1. Your output settings will appear.
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4

Select an output device.

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  1. This highlights the device.
5

Customize your device settings.

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  1. Click and drag the white notch under "Balance" to adjust your balance settings, and the white notch under "Output volume" to change volume settings. Your new settings will take effect instantly.
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